VIDEO: Rowdy teens repeatedly wreck East Village deli, assault workers who say NYPD has done nothing

A group of rowdy teens have harassed and attacked workers in an East Village deli near Tompkins Square Park for months, but the police have done nothing about it, the store owner says.

Jay Patel, owner of Sheen Brothers Deli at 157 Avenue B, says he has called the police time and again about the teen terrors, but cops have told him their hands are tied.

“I was calling the police officers every day. Those kids come in the store,” Patel said. “Sometimes, they have a metal rod, and sometimes, a baseball bat. ... The police say they can’t do anything.”

In one security video, teens punch a clerk repeatedly in the face and then try to push their way in as workers defend the doorway. In another, a teen strikes a worker with a stick, and in a third, they throw a metal can and a tray of energy bars at an employee’s head.

Patel spent $7,000 on an automatic gate and a buzzer system as extra security. Customers have to be buzzed in and out of the bodega.

“I can’t hit them, because they are kids!” Patel said.

NYPD figures show the incidents are part of a larger pattern in the 9th Precinct, which covers the East Village.

As of Feb. 27, overall crime in the 9th Precinct was up 58% this year — or 278 incidents versus 175 — with robberies and grand larcenies doubling, NYPD records show. Petty larceny is up 123%, or 286 incidents compared with 128 incidents in the same period in 2021.

A police spokesman confirmed the NYPD received around a dozen 911 calls regarding the deli from October 2021 through March 3. Cops had five complaint reports on file. No arrests have been made.

“The commanding officer is aware of the condition and is working to correct it,” the spokeswoman said, adding that cops are coordinating with school safety officers. Neighborhood coordination officers, youth coordination officers and detectives are also on the case, the spokeswoman said.

The deli owner, however, recalled one cop blaming then-Mayor Bill de Blasio for tying their hands, preventing them from bringing a quick end to the chaos that frequently occurs after school ends for the day.

Patel owns two other delis in Jamaica, Queens, and Carle Place, L.I., so dealing with the miscreants often falls to his cousin, Kirit Patel.

“They’re young, but they have height and everything else,” Kirit Patel said. “They give us too much hard time. I’ve lost a lot of business.”

The mayhem was as recent as Wednesday night, when security video shows the teens threatening a clerk and snatching two umbrellas. But earlier incidents were much worse.

On Dec. 14, the same group came in, threatened Kirit Patel and threw a metal can at him, hitting him in the head. Then they hit the clerk with an umbrella.

On Oct. 28, they threw a tray of energy bars and a can at Kirit Patel’s head, striking him. On Oct. 25, one of the teens smacked a clerk several times with a stick and scuffled with workers on their way out.

On Oct. 25, a teen repeatedly struck a clerk with a stick, the video shows. Cops took reports for assault in those instances, records show.

On Oct. 5, they repeatedly punched a clerk, left, and tried to force their way in again as a clerk blocked the doorway of the store, the video shows.

Kirit Patel said it’s gotten so bad, regular customers don’t want to deal with the chaos.

Some workers have quit.

“They come in every couple of days,” said Jay Patel. “They punched me one time in my mouth. I told the police five, six times, but there is no action. This guy last night, he came and took my picture and said, ‘We’ll kill you anytime.’”

He said the teens often lurk outside the store and plot before sending someone he doesn’t recognize in to start trouble. Or they wait until a customer enters and push their way in.

“They’re planning,” he said. “They’ll wait outside and send in a new guy.”

Councilwoman Carlina Rivera said the harassment was “sad and frustrating.”

“As the mayor focuses on public safety, I hope he will see the need for violence prevention and prioritize investments in services to divert young people from this behavior while protecting our small businesses,” Rivera said.

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